Will he win a thirteenth Parisian crown, on the occasion of this Roland-Garros tournament, which is exceptionally delayed in September?
It's anything but impossible, even if the playing conditions have little to do with the normality of the noisy atmosphere of the Porte d'Auteuil, between the virtual absence of spectators and the fall weather.
But that's not what can stop Rafael Nadal on clay, if anything is possible… It has been ten years since the legendary player is also the tennis partner of Richard Mille, the extreme brand. watchmaking.
For him, she has never ceased to imagine creations as light as they are resistant, able to be worn on the court by the player without hindering him, and without breaking!
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RENAUD CORLOUER /
A decade of extreme watches
We thus remember, after his RM-27 and his RM-035, the legendary left-hander's RM 27-01.
The lightest tourbillon in the world, a featherweight of 19 grams, velcro strap included, with a movement in carbon alloy, titanium and lithium in total suspension in the heart of the case, held by carbon nanotubes 0.35 mm in diameter .
What to resist a flash acceleration of 5 G, and to make a banker pale, with its price of around half a million euros.
From the top of its 21 grams, the RM 27-02 accompanied Nadal's tenth victory in Paris, with its monocoque turntable and its capacity to collect no more 5 but 5000 G. A piece produced in fifty copies and entered the legend of the tennis as in that of watchmaking.
As for the RM 27-03, also produced in 50 copies, it featured a yellow and red Quartz TPT case to pay tribute to the player's native land.
A coin at 650,000 euros in the color obtained by the impregnation of tinted resins in layers of silica of 45 microns!
Its tourbillon caliber was this time able to withstand 10,000 g.
One wonders if we will not soon see a Richard Mille watch going into space… Its TPT carbon skeletonized monocoque plate and its ultralight tourbillon caliber make it literally indestructible.
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Richard Mille
Extreme racket
This year, it was the turn of an RM-27-04 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal to be worn by the Porte d'Auteuil player.
A piece marked with a "Rafa" on the flank, still produced in 50 copies and, this time, the price is close to the million euros ... Its manual-winding tourbillon movement can withstand inhuman accelerations of more than 12,000 G, a new record, even at Richard Mille.
Its case is this time made of an exclusive material, TitaCarbL.
This high performance polyamide reinforced by injection of carbon fiber withstands an exceptional traction of 370 MPa (3700 kg / cm2).
Enough to make it one of the most resistant polymers in the world.
This time, this watch dedicated to “Rafa” and produced in only 50 pieces weighs 30 grams, strap included.
But the weight difference is unlikely to slow Rafael Nadal's forehand.
This time, the tourbillon caliber suspension within the case ensures resistance to accelerations of over 12,000 g, a new record.
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Richard Mille
The micro-blasted sieve of only 855 mm2 which supports it is in fact made of a single braided steel cable 0.27 mm in diameter, held by two screw tensioners treated with 5N PVD gold.
An unprecedented construction in watchmaking.
Inspired by the very principle of stringing a racquet, the steel cable is secured to the tensioner located at 5 o'clock.
The watchmaker then weaves the sieve, alternately stringing the uprights before attacking the interlacing of the string.
Alternating above and below, the cable thus passes 38 times through the uprights of the hollowed-out grade 5 titanium and comes to end its run in the tensioner located at 10 o'clock.
The diagonally hand-wound movement is then connected to the screen by five polished grade 5 titanium hooks with 5N gold PVD treatment, “stowed” to the back of the plate.
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